'Snowden effect' hits Assange's political party fortunes

Sydney, Aug. 22 (ANI): WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has admitted that he prioritized NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden's issue over his political party which is on the verge of disintegration.

Victorian Senate candidate Leslie Cannold quit on Wednesday after a dispute over preferences, claiming the party was failing to live up to its democratic principles and said that more members are expected to quit soon, this was followed by resignation of other senior figures from the party.

Assange, who is holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for more than a year, said that he spent his time 'trying to save Snowden' and accepted full responsibility for over-delegating function to the Australian party, News.com.au reports.

According to the report, Assange said that the nine-hour time difference made it difficult for him as a party leader to tackle the internal problems of the party adding that Cannold did not speak to him as she should have before speaking to the press.

National Council member Daniel Mathews, who also resigned late on Wednesday night, criticised Assange for attending only one of the 13 National Council meetings.

Mathews said that helping Snowden is surely more important than attending a council meeting but attending one of the first 13 meeting of the party is a fairly low participation rate in one's own party, the report added. (ANI)